Padres took their time drafting Gwynn in 1981

JOHN MAFFEI Staff Writer

He can't give you the exact date, but Tony Gwynn remembers thepitcher, the pitch, the opponent and the outcome of the swing thathe believes led to his becoming a Padre in 1981.

"We were playing Hawaii late in the season (April 23) at ourplace, and Chuck Crim tried to sneak a slider by me," Gwynn said ofa key Western Athletic Conference game at San Diego State. "Ijumped on it and hit it off a light tower in right field."

Padres general manager Jack McKeon was at that game scoutingAztecs shortstop Bobby Meacham. And Crim was one of the toppitchers in college baseball at the time.

"I truly believe that swing got me drafted by the Padres," said
Gwynn, who played 20 seasons for the Padres and will be inducted
into the Hall of Fame today.

McKeon doesn't recall the exact details of that game, but he
remembers going to see Meacham ... and walking away impressed with
Gwynn.

"Meacham was the hot guy, a slick-fielding shortstop, the guy
everyone wanted to see," McKeon said by phone. "There was nothing
wrong with Meacham. But Gwynn was the guy who impressed me."

Choosing sixth in the 1981 June Regular Phase draft, McKeon
pleaded with his scouting staff to take Gwynn with the Padres'
first-round pick. Instead, the Padres opted for Arkansas outfielder
Kevin McReynolds, who went on to hit .265 with 211 homers and 807
RBIs in a 12-year major-league career.

Meacham, now the first-base coach for the Padres, went two pickslater to the Cardinals. He was later traded to the Yankees, withwhom he played six seasons.

The Padres also had the 26th pick and took Miami catcher Frank
Castro, who never played above Double-A.

Six choices later, over McKeon's strenuous objection, the Padres
took right-hander Bill Long from Miami of Ohio. Long was 27-27 in a
six-year career, but never pitched for the Padres. In late 1984,
the Padres included him in a trade that netted them All-Star
pitcher LaMarr Hoyt.

Finally, with the 58th selection in the third round, McKeon got
his man, taking Gwynn.

"I had to threaten to walk out of the draft room," McKeon said."My scouting staff didn't like Tony all that much. They said wecould get him later. But I loved the kid. Finally, I had to say,'Take this kid now before we lose him.' "

What McKeon didn't know was that had the Padres not taken Gwynn
when they did, they would have lost him.

Former San Diego State left-hander Bob Cluck was scouting forthe Houston Astros, who had Gwynn on the top of their draftboard.

"We would have taken Tony in the first round, but we didn't have
a first-round pick that year," said Cluck, who now works for the
Padres as a minor-league pitching consultant. "We would have taken
him in the second round, but we didn't have a second-round pick. So
we held our breath and hoped we'd get him in the third round. But
the Padres beat us to him.

"Can you imagine how the face of baseball, the face of the
Padres would have changed if the Astros had taken Tony?"

The Astros lost their first-round pick for signing catcher/third
baseman Dave Roberts, the first player taken in the 1972 draft by
the Padres. Roberts played just 27 games for the Astros in '81.

And Houston gave up its second-round selection for signing Hall
of Fame right-hander Don Sutton, who was 11-9 in '81 and 13-8 in
'82 before being traded to Milwaukee.

After losing out on Gwynn, the Astros selected Tennessee State
outfielder Curtis Burke, who never played in the big leagues. None
of Houston's 25 picks in the June Regular Phase draft ever donned a
big-league uniform.

The Padres, on the other hand, had McReynolds, Long, Gwynn,
right-hander Greg Booker and infielder Paul Noce make it to the big
leagues from that draft. Plus, John Kruk was taken in the third
round of the June Secondary Phase, which at the time was part of
the draft for previously drafted players.

Of the 57 players taken before Gwynn, 16 ... including John
Elway (yes, that John Elway), who was chosen by the Yankees ...never played in the big leagues. And 11 more played in fewer games(54) than Gwynn appeared in as a rookie in 1982.

However, the Padres weren't the only team that drafted Gwynn on
June 8, 1981.

Several hours after the Padres called his name, the then-San
Diego Clippers took Gwynn in the 10th round of the NBA draft.

The Clippers' general manager at the time, Ted Podleski, said
Gwynn wasn't a courtesy draft, and had he not been a baseball
player, he could have gone as high as the sixth round in the NBA
draft. A point guard in college, Gwynn is still San Diego State's
all-time assists leader.

"I really think I could have played in the NBA," Gwynn said."Remember, the Clippers weren't very good back then, and theyweren't deep at the point. I was flattered the Clippers took me,and I was intrigued by the thought of playing in the NBA.

"But I sat down with my father, and he convinced me I could have
a better and more productive career playing baseball. I sure am
glad I listened to him. And I'm glad Jack McKeon was at that game
in '81."